Transcription (english) - Interview de DieStar, septembre 2014

[M] Corto : Hello everybody. Today it is my pleasure to have DieStar with me for an interview. Hi DieStar !

[M] Diestar : Hello everybody !

This year the summer has been pretty packed. There has been many big StarCraft II tournaments. We have also seen that you have kept practicing regularly : we have seen you in many online competitions and qualifiers. But the first question I wanted to ask you before we really start talking about StarCraft II is about your summer : did you enjoy it ?

[M] DieStar : Actually not as much as I could because I had only five days vacations : I couldn't go earlier and later because I had no time. So I was on the sea for four or five days. But I enjoyed it very well with my girlfriend.

Where exactly have you been ?

[M] DieStar : On the Baltic sea in Poland.

As I was saying in the beginning, there has been a lot of nice competitions during the summer like for example the Proleague finals, many Redbull competitions, IEM, DreamHack. Which one of these tournaments did you enjoy the most watching ?

[M] DieStar : Actually it might be the Proleague finals.

Do you have a particular game that you remember ?

[M] DieStar : Not a game in particular but there was a lot of very good games. I remember that it was so exciting. And now we have also WCS.

Yes it is true, WCS and GSL are just starting again right now.

And what about you ? We have seen you in several competitions and qualifiers. Did you have a good time playing these tournaments during the summer ?

[M] DieStar : Actually I have played a lot of Zotac and Go4Sc2 because these are weekly tournaments and there is very good participants. I have tried to win some but I couldn't.

Sometimes you have been very close...

[M] DieStar : I was indeed very close, I was in the final but then my nerves... As you know maybe, I am a very nervous person so... Until the final, I am in the best shape, but if I am in the final, I am shacking. Even when it is online.

Really ? I didn't know that. Do you think it is your biggest weakness at the moment ?

[M] DieStar : Yes, yes. It is a very big weakness.

And are you trying something to avoid it ? Or is it really something that you have to live with ?

[M] DieStar : Maybe if I could play more tournament and reach the final, I could maybe fix it. But I don't know... On offline tournaments, it is easier for me because I have a lot of games. And match after match it is better for my condition.

So the more you practice, in better shape you are.

[M] DieStar : Yes, exactly.

Since you are a Terran, in my opinion, something quite big happened during the summer, which is the fact that Terrans are really starting to win tournaments again. We have seen for example Bunny winning the Gfinity G3, Bomber won the Red Bull Battlegrounds in Atlanta, Polt won in Detroit....

[M] DieStar : ...Yes I saw that so many Terrans won.

And even Flash, last week-end.

[M] DieStar : Yes, I saw it. I think it was his first win on tournament, right ?

Exactly, it was his first. I wanted to ask you if you could tell us what has changed, what has happened with the Terrans ? Has something changed ?

[M] DieStar : Actually, nothing changed in the patch. It’s only about mine buff lately, and Thors that start to attack air. Nothing changed, but maybe Terrans learned how to play against Protoss or Zerg. Nothing changed,...maybe the mind.

Preparation and tactics ? Is there anything different right now in the way the Terrans are building....?

[M] DieStar : No, it’s exactly the same builds, exactly the same openings. Maybe there are better moves done by Terrans.

And what about you? Do you feel it yourself ? Are you more confident against Protoss ?

[M] DieStar : Yes, I feel really good in TvP lately. I don’t know why I feel bad against Zerg, it’s surprising for me. But against Protoss I feel really strong.

And what about your TvT ? You seem to like it at least?

[M] DieStar : I think TvT is my best matchup for the moment, but maybe you can remember when I played against Happy, in Zotac final. Maybe that’s why you can think I’m bad in TvT, but earlier I played very well in TvT. I played a lot of TvT with ForGG, that’s why maybe it is my best matchup right now.

Let’s talk a bit about the Millenium team, you’ve been practicing with ForGG, but what about the other players ? For example VortiX who is the last one who joined the team.

[M] DieStar : I didn’t practice with VortiX at all, I practiced with ForGG because he asked me about this, before his WCS match, he had to play against MMA if I remember well. He really wanted to win, and we practiced maybe 4 or 5 hours per day. We did maybe 200 games in two weeks.

That’s very impressive. And you learned a lot from that as well ?

[M] DieStar : Yes, I learned a lot from ForGG. I lost the first thirty games, it was maybe 30 to 0. And then I started to win, and it was sometimes 5-0 for me. So, yes I learned a lot from ForGG on TvT.

And there hasn’t been any bootcamp this year during the summer, was it because it was just not possible for all of you ? Or is there any other reason?

[M] DieStar : I wasn’t in the Gaming House because I didn’t participate to DreamHack Valencia, I couldn’t go there because they had a full list already, when I talked with Rémy [Lewellys]. So it doesn’t make sense to practice there in Gaming House because anyway there was no tournament scheduled. I wanted to come maybe two weeks before DreamHack Valencia but as I said, it wasn’t possible.

Do you have plans for later in the year or not really ?

[M] DieStar : About coming to Gaming House ? No I don’t think. I know I’ll go to DreamHack Stockholm with the team, because I talked to Rémy and he wants to send me there, so it will be my next big tournament, and I’m preparing for this.

Are there any other competition that you would like to attend before the end of the year?

[M] DieStar : I don’t think there is any qualifications for big tournaments, if you mean Zotac or Go4Sc2 of course I will, but I don’t know about big events.

Yes it’s true that for the end of the year, it’s a big question mark what will happen because we have a lot of tournaments until October or November, but after that it’s still empty. Let’s hope a lot of new tournaments will pop-up.

I also wanted to ask you about Flash’s victory in Toronto, many people have been commenting his way of playing and his style. Is it a style you like ?

[M] DieStar : Yes, I like Flash since Brood War. I don’t know if you knew that I was a StarCraft Brood War player, and since this time I’m a big fan of Flash. And I want him to win some big events because he really deserves it, he plays a lot, he is a very professional player. He really deserves it, I really like his style, he is aggressive at multiple places at once, really impressive play from him.

Is there something that one can learn from him as a Terran ? Is there something you could try to copy in his play ?

[M] DieStar : Yes I try to copy his strategy, I think everybody does *laughs*

I guess yes, since it’s working.

[M] DieStar : His TvP is really strong, he won to Zest, who is the best Protoss in the world.

Every year, you used to play EPS Poland, but this year, it hasn’t been played, has it been cancelled?

[M] DieStar : Yes, EPS Poland won’t be back this year, and next year as well. I don’t know why they removed this event from Poland scene.

So no EPS anymore...

[M] DieStar : No EPS but other tournaments I play in Poland like Gaming Grounds Liga, it’s two qualifications or something like that, and then a big event with big prize like 1000€ for first place.

Is it an offline tournament ?

[M] DieStar : It will be offline tournament.

Where will it be played ?

[M] DieStar : I don’t remember, I can’t tell you know, I don’t remember the city. But for sure it will be only for Polish players.

Let us know, because we are always happy to hear about your victories.

[M] DieStar : It’s like a league, we play one game per week, and I’m now in semi-finals. But I’m waiting for my next opponent who will be either Nerchio or ParanOid.

Who is the organizer ?

[M] DieStar : You can’t know them, Polish people.

Last but not least, I wanted to ask you about Legacy of the Void. We haven’t heard anything about it yet. But I wanted to know whether you are hoping that this last extension will be released soon, or if you are happy with the way the game is right now ?

[M] DieStar : To be honest, I’m not focusing on that, I’m focusing on Heart of the Swarm for now. It was the same with the beginning of Heart of the Swarm, everybody was like “Wow, Heart of the Swarm”, and I had 0 knowledge about this. I don’t want to waste my time for a new extension.

Very last question, it seems that you and MaddeLisk share a passion for workout, how did you end up working out like that ?

[M] DieStar : Actually it was my cousin who talked to me, he came to me on holidays for one week, and he worked out a little bit at home. I looked for his results, and I told him “Wow, your muscles are really big, you were a very little boy and now you are very big!”. And he motivated me to do this, so I started to go to the gym, I started to make my own diet, and in six months, I was a really nice guy *laugh* with really big results.

So you keep working out every day ?

[M] DieStar : No it’s four times per week, and I have my own diet as I said. I have to eat sometimes more calories, sometimes less. If I want to have bigger muscles, I have to eat more and work out more. If I want less fat, I eat less and workout less.

Are you happy with the way you are now ?

[M] DieStar : No, my goal is to have 5 more kilograms, and a little more muscles. Because right now I’m really a little boy, I’m 78kg, so it’s not as big as I want to, and I hope in the next 6 months I’ll look really nice.

We hope it for you as well, so that’s it for the questions, thank you very much for your time, it was really nice to have you.

[M] DieStar : Thank you for the interview.

Maybe you want to say something to your fans before we say goodbye ?

[M] DieStar : I wanted to thanks them, because they are really helpful for me, they are still keeping through for me so thank you guys for cheering for me. And I hope I’ll show my best at DreamHack Stockholm.

Yes, we will be there to support you.

[M] DieStar : It will be in one month.

It’s coming fast. Great, thank you a lot, and I wish you many good things for the coming weeks.

[M] DieStar :Thank you very much!

Ciao, bye bye !

[M] DieStar : Bye bye !

TinkeR